WINNIPEG, MB. - "We’re now at a point where people are clearly telling us they don't trust City Hall and are not satisfied with the plans as presented, they feel their quality of life in jeopardy. Residents are concerned," said Kevin Klein.
In a powerpoint presentation by the Public Service, at the Executive Policy meeting, it stated – the people submitting feedback (residents) said they were skeptical about the use of feedback and the city’s intent any to consider feedback. Does that not confirm residents trust in city council is eroding?
Complete Communities is based on (their words) the Public Services best information across the department, and was further supported by engineering sub-consultants AE-com – is this not a conflict given the city has delegated its planning capabilities to an external firm which the city has had issues with in the past and who continues to be award massive contracts for city work.
AE-com is an American multinational engineering firm based in Los Angeles with reported revenues in 2018 of $20 billion that’s $1 billon less than McDonalds.
A city plan meant for the people of the city should be developed 100% by the people of the city, not by a foreign multinational.
A thorough cost-benefit analysis is critical in all projects to provide clear quantitative data which will be necessary when council decides on questions such as “does development pay for development?” and “what is the cost-benefit of infill vs. urban sprawl?”
Not applying a thorough cost-benefit analysis to all development projects results in cost-overruns to the City, which pushes the City to engage in alternate taxation methods such as Impact Fees which are strongly opposed and often poorly implemented, resulting in legal proceedings and large costs to the City.
In fact, all City projects, policies, and development action requires a thorough cost benefit analysis, including assigning a dollar value to the environment, green space, parkland.
Klein asked, "what about the elephant in the room? Everyone seems to be ignoring it. The Province will soon introduce legislation that will overrule these plans, is the best time and of resources, and money?"
"Wouldn’t it be wiser to invest time in rebuilding our relationship with the provincial government and working on a municipal plan together?"